This invention relates to the storage of liquid radioactive material.
The term "liquid radioactive material" as used in this specification includes within its scope solutions and slurries.
Such solutions and slurries may arise during the reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuel. When a nuclear fuel has been irradiated in a nuclear reactor it is normally reprocessed to separate uranium and plutonium from the fission products. The fission products are highly radioactive and have to be stored for very long periods. One method for the long term storage of fission products is to store them as solutions or slurries in large tanks fitted with cooling coils to remove the decay heat and with means for circulating the fission product solution or slurry within the tank. However it is difficult to ensure that sufficient circulation occurs within the large volume of liquid in the tank to prevent the accumulation of sediment on the tank walls and on the cooling coils which tends to reduce the efficiency of the cooling. As a safety measure there must be spare tanks available to which to transfer the fission product solution or slurry should any defect become apparent in the original tank. The capital investment in such storage tanks is large and it is therefore desirable to reduce the number of spare tanks which have to be provided.